Pigsty by Mark Teague

Pigsty by Mark Teague

Rating: 4 stars

Lorelei and Ben are good helpers when it's clean up time, but I can't wait to just say, "Ok, go clean up your room!"  My job will be to simply inspect it.  (I'm sure no nagging will be involved.)  This book is a funny look at a boy who refuses to clean his room.  It literally turns into a pigsty!

When his mother just throws up her hands and says Wendell can choose the level of cleanliness in his own room, he is ecstatic.  Even though one pig has already moved in.  Then another joins in, and Wendell still thinks it's great--they play monopoly and other games together.  But then two more join the mix, and suddenly he finds his basketball flat after it was used as a stool and his comic books with hoof prints all over them.  He decides for himself that enough is enough, organizes a swine cleaning crew, and cleans up.  The pigs, of course, move out because it's too clean, and only return for the occasional game night.

We like Mark Teague's words and love his artwork--his pictures seem big and in-your-face in a great way.  There are clever little things hidden in some pages, like one of the last pages where the pick-up truck that takes the pigs home has a license plate that reads: EIEIO.  I liked that, when I pointed out and explained it to Lorelei, she got the joke.  I'm pretty sure she got the joke (either way, I appreciate that she giggled a bit...just the right thing to do when Mommy makes a joke or points out a joke!)  I like the play-on-words lesson in this book--Lorelei understood that, literally, a pigsty is a place where pigs live.  And figuratively, it's a really messy, dirty place.  I don't know how amused I'll be when the day comes that she calls my car a pigsty, because it most certainly is most days of the month!

The Secret Shortcut by Mark Teague

The Secret Shortcut by Mark Teague

Rating: 4.5 stars

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...kids walked to school.  Remember that?

A few months ago I read an article in the New York Times which explained that in several school districts a child is not allowed to walk to school if they live a certain distance from school.  And in those same districts and many others, parents who do let their children walk to school are harangued by other parents for such dangerous negligence.

Ok, I admit we don't exactly live in a neighborhood where Lorelei and Ben can ever walk to school.  But if we did live in more of a city, you better believe I'd buy them bikes and send them on their merry way!

Oh--the book!  It's a fun one, even if you plan on driving your child to school every day of their schooling (hopefully not college).  Two 8-ish-year old boys just can't get to school on time.  First it's the space creatures making them late, then it's the pirates (arrrgh...hate it when they get in my way), and finally a plague of frogs.  Their teacher is fed up with their excuses, and they know she means business, so they find "the secretest shortcut" and vow to get to school on time.  Of course, this secretest shortcut somehow leads them past sleeping alligators and other jungle creatures.  They begin to wonder if they'll be late again when they fall in a mud puddle, hear the school bell ring, and make a run for it.  They make it on time--with stiff, muddy hair and all.  The illustrations are vibrant and funny--Mark Teague is great for some captivating illustrations.

This is a great parent-free adventure of two little boys.  Definitely a classic type of tale and one that I wish could happen in real life a little bit more--maybe we can't let our children walk to school, but at least we can lengthen the leash a bit and let them have some parent-free time to create, alone or with their friends, their own tales of their own.

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague

Rating: 2 stars

We are pretty crazy about dinosaurs in this house right now.  From my perch here at the computer, I can see five books of our very own and I know there are three more from the library in the library stack in the playroom.  After reading a dozen or more dinosaur books, I am a little confused about the role that they should take in kids books.  Should they be soft and cuddly like the triceratops in The Littlest Dinosaur, funny as can be like those in Dinos on the Go, cute but still pretty fierce like Dinosaurs Galore, fun playthings that sometimes come alive as pets like in Sammy and the Dinosaurs, or...pretty scary and huge and not-so-nice like in How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

As you can see from my low rating, I don't think that Jane Yolen quite got it right this time.  This series of books is so popular--and this book in particular--that I am left scratching my head.  In this book, dinosaurs do a bunch of not-so-nice things like slap their parents hands, throw sand, mope through nap time, flood the house, and a bunch of other things that I'd prefer not Lorelei and Ben visualize.  Then, the parents forgive the dinosaurs when they blow kisses, or clean up, or hold their hand.  I am lucky to have kids who don't do all of those things (yet?!) and while of course I'd love them as they did all those things, I surely don't want to encourage it.

So I'm perplexed on this one.  Help!  Are they favorites in your house?  If so, what do you like about them (or what do your kids like about them)?  I just don't understand why every list I've ever found (practically) recommends this book!